Thousands of youth work opportunities pledged

Daniel Harte (left, pictured with Mayor Richard Parker) secured an apprenticeship at Rotadex Systems

Almost 13,000 work experience, training and apprenticeship opportunities have been pledged to help get young West Midlands people into good careers.

Mayor Richard Parker said he was well on the way to creating the 20,000 opportunities targeted when he launched his Youth Employment Plan a year ago.

He stated youth unemployment in some areas, such as Birmingham, Walsall and Wolverhampton, was double the national average, with about 28,000 young people classed as unemployed across the region.

Mr Parker said he was pleased to have secured "even more training and work experience pledges from employers across the West Midlands".

Last month, the mayor launched his Growth Plan, which aims to create 93,000 quality, well-paid jobs over a decade.

He said: "By connecting people to good jobs in the region's fastest-growing sectors, we're not just changing lives – we're building our economy."

Young people are being given access to training, education, careers guidance and other support, including work preparation lessons at school.

Erdington resident Daniel Harte, 25, had to give up his career as a chef when he developed a reaction to chemicals commonly used in a kitchen.

After a year unemployed, he joined a West Midlands Combined Authority-funded Engineering Path2Apprenticeship with Performance Through People (PTP).

He attended a PTP training centre to learn practical welding skills.

Mr Harte secured an apprenticeship at Rotadex Systems, an engineering and manufacturing storage solutions company, for a Level 2 LEAN Manufacturing Operative Apprentice, with PTP as the training provider.

He said: "Path 2 Apprenticeships made the learning very easy. It was fun and engaging, and the tutors were extremely helpful when I made mistakes."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.